Final Wellness Day Wednesday, Students Give Opinions
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — With Penn State students’ final wellness day of the semester this Wednesday, it’s no surprise that that this new de-stressing experiment has sparked reflection about the many changes that the pandemic has brought, including the loss of spring break.
Colin Hennessy, a sophomore majoring in political science and philosophy, had a lot to say about the pros and cons of wellness days.
“When it’s done properly, I get to sleep in a bit, I get to take a break away from classes, maybe go out into nature if it’s a good day and step back away from everything,” Hennessy said. “When it’s not done well, that’s another case.”
While many students found momentary relief during these breaks, a lot mentioned that most of their wellness days were taken up by a greater workload.
“I found that some professors view those days, as they can give us a video lecture or extra work to be doing on that week,” Hennessy said.
Penn Staters felt a lot of loss or demoralization because of this, especially since wellness days were only once a month.
One anonymous Penn State student even found the decision to get rid of spring break as insulting.
When asked about whether students would want these wellness days in the future, responses were heavily mixed.
Some said that it wasn’t the wellness days that were the issue but the way in which they were executed.
The proposal of an easier workload for the weeks that had wellness days was also mentioned. Some students would have been fine with them if they were a little more frequent.
“Better enforcement of not adding workload to the students that are already overstressed would be the best way to go about it,” Hennessy said. “... As long as they’re not overloading students on the days they’re supposed to be resting.”
Jon Mead is a sophomore majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jkm6040@psu.edu.
